Menu

It's called Eastern Wedge and it's fast becoming an extremely popular pan-Asian vegetarian restaurant in Chennai. Situated at Poes Garden, this 55-seater restaurant is wheelchair accessible. The seating is spread out across several rooms and the interiors are very elegant.

Chefs Ram Kumar, Yanagida and Alex

Chef Ram Kumar of Va Pho and Benjarong, heads the operations here. Expat chefs Yanagida from Japan and Alex from Malaysia have helped in curating the menu.When he invited Smitha and me to the review, he told us that if non vegetarians like us did like the food, it would be a huge endorsement for the concept.

One part of the kitchen features an open space. Inside stainless steel compartments, there are skewers threaded with appetisers. Mis en place is impeccable, in the otherwise clinically clean space, the burst of colours of the veggies is eye catching.

Nutty Milo; lemongrass cooler

The Lemongrass Cooler, fragrant with the aroma and flavour of lemongrass is so refreshing. If you like Milo and peanut butter, it's the Nutty Milo you should be ordering. It's a perfect blend of both ingredients and deliciously addictive.

Kushi yaki with sauces and dips

Kushi age

The menu that features Japanese, Chinese, Thai and Malaysian cuisines used to have about 80 dishes but now has been whittled down to about 40! 40??? So it's a good idea to start with Kushi Yaki. Our platter had a selection of broccoli, mushrooms, tofu and capsicum. The veggies were grilled just right and retained their colour and crunch. Artistically plated and sprinkled with pumpkin floss, they were served with miso mayo, wasabi mayo and kushi yaki sauce.
The Kushi Age basket held baby potatoes and cherry tomatoes. The tomatoes were lovely, the batter that coated them was light. Of the dips, the tonkatsu sauce was quite delicious.

Spinach dumpling; pandan paneer

Szechuan shiitake

Theskin of the Spinach Dumpling is soft and chewy. The filling is substantial, vegetable protein bits give it an interesting texture. Pandan Paneer, an out and out fusion dish, comes wrapped in a pandan leaf. The paneer is soft, the fragrance of the leaf has permeated the cheese and it's an absolute standout. Each of these appetisers comes with a set of sauces that are the result of much R&D by the chefs. The star dish at Eastern Wedge must be Szechuan Shiitake. Slices of shiitake mushrooms are batter fried and tossed in their signature Szechuan sauce. It's chewy, garlicky and spicy and the flavours do a salsa on the tongue.

Glutinous rice in lotus leaf

BBQ buns

Glutinous Rice in Lotus Leaf is on the menu. I've had the non veg version several times while abroad so was interested in trying out Eastern Wedge's interpretation. Though a dead ringer in looks and texture, the tea-like aroma of the leaf was a tad too strong and the rice was quite sweet. The BBQ Bun was rather doughy and I found the filling pasty in parts. Chef Alex revealed that they do not use yeast to ferment the dough.

Chanko nabe with udon noodles

Baama curry rice; Eastern Wedge eggplant

Dandan noodles

Chanko Nabe with Udon Noodles in tomato is a filling, one-pot dish. The broth was thick and flavourful though there was no perceptible Asian flavour to it. Still, if you want something a little different, this will be apt.
Northern-style Bamaa Curry Rice is delicious. The gravy is quite similar to Thai red curry but here, it's thicker and aromatic with the fragrance of kaffir lime. Even the carrots had been sliced artistically. Eastern Wedge Eggplant could do with bolder flavours but it is an interesting presentation of the humble aubergine. I loved the different textures of Dandan Noodles, it's definitely a dish worth ordering.

Sesame ball

Dessert was Sesame Ball, filled with a red bean paste and served with a scoop of ice cream. Honestly, I was quite content with the Nutty Milo!

Plenty of pan-Asian favourites have found their way into the menu at Eastern Wedge. If you're a vegetarian and have wondered what a proper Asian meal would taste like, it is worth exploring the menu.

The bar at The Flying Elephant has had a revamp and is now a stunning and stylish space. In keeping with the new look, the bar menu too has been given an upgrade and there are some great cocktails to go along with the food.

Exec Sous Chef Michele Cero

Over dinner with a fellow bloggers, we met TFE's new Italian Executive Sous Chef, Michele Dal Cero. He graduated in mechanical engineering and then found his true calling as a chef and has 20 years of experience, the last 7 of which have been at Seoul.

Charcoal lamb

As for the menu, there is a good selection of Asian, mid Eastern and Indian flavours presented as small plates as well as a decent selection of vegetarian dishes. Naturally, a couple of Italian dishes found their way into the menu too. We started with Charcoal Lamb. Well, it hadn't been coated with charcoal but had been roasted over it. Marinated for hours before being cooked, it was fork tender and beautifully spiced. It was the perfect accompaniment for my Whisky Sour.

The Middle Eastern flavours of the shish taouk were delightful. Succulent cubes of chicken had been interspersed with coloured capsicum slices, served over a sumac-dusted onion salad. To scoop up the chunks of meat and veg was Turkish bread that doubled as a plate. Yummy!

3 cheese jalapeno & pesto mushroom

Three cheese jalapeno and pesto mushroom tikka is another addition to the menu. Large mushrooms hid within their caps a mix of pesto and cheese, jalapeno bits added pops of heat. Slices of toasted, garlicky baguette and onions rings would definitely have you raising your glass to the balance of taste and texture.

Prawns tossed in garlic, chilli & coriander

Prawns tossed in garlic, chilli and coriander was my favourite. Served slightly warm, the flavours of garlic and olive oil had permeated the prawns and was finger licking good.

Pumpkin ravioli

Vegetarian pizzas

The pumpkin ravioli was introduced into TFE's menu a while ago. The kinks have now been ironed out and it's quite a delightful dish in its present avatar. Especially those candied walnuts. The pizzas, on the other hand, were very ordinary and we do look forward to Chef Michele and the team doing a makeover on them too.

For a bar menu, the serving sizes are just right. Every morsel could be speared with a fork, leaving your other hand free to hold your drink.

Main course - Indian breads, dal makhni & butter chicken

Dessert platter

Churros and dips

For dessert, Chef Cero and his team spoilt us with a selection of dark chocolate cake and slices of cheesecake. We even got a serving of churros (TFE's version is fabulous) with jars of apple cinnamon, salted caramel and chocolate sauces to dip into.

The best part must be that the right side of the menu too has been revamped. A meal for 2, sans alcohol is about 3000/++.